Gilmour v. Wood, Wire & Metal Lathers International Union, Local No. 74

223 F. Supp. 236, 7 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 420, 54 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2457, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7189
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedOctober 9, 1963
Docket61 C 1298
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 223 F. Supp. 236 (Gilmour v. Wood, Wire & Metal Lathers International Union, Local No. 74) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gilmour v. Wood, Wire & Metal Lathers International Union, Local No. 74, 223 F. Supp. 236, 7 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 420, 54 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2457, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7189 (N.D. Ill. 1963).

Opinion

DECKER, District Judge.

This is a complaint in three counts, alleging in Count I the breach of a collective bargaining agreement between the plaintiff and defendant Union; in Count II, a secondary boycott by the defendant against the plaintiff; and in Count III, a conspiracy in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to the damage of the plaintiff. The jurisdiction of the Court is based on Section 301 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. § 185) — Count I; Section 303 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. § 187) — Count II; and Sections 1 through 8 of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (15 U.S.C. §§ 1-7) — Count III.

Before getting into a detailed examination of the complaint, it is well to notice the basic inconsistency of the three counts which plaintiff alleges here. The first count alleges that the plaintiff became a party to a collective bargaining agreement both individually and as a member of an employers association to which the defendant Union was the other party. Count I demands damages for the breach of that agreement by the Union.

Count II alleges that, notwithstanding the collective bargaining agreement, the defendant Union caused a secondary boycott of the plaintiff by refusing to send or to allow union members to work for plaintiff.

Count III alleges that the very contract for whose breach plaintiff seeks damages in the first two counts is itself a conspiracy, in violation of the AntiTrust laws of the United States.

Plaintiff Gilmour is a lathing contractor and an employer of the members of Local 74. Local 74 is a union which represents approximately 700 employees, commonly called lathers, and whose members are employed by the plaintiff and by other members of the Employing Lathers Association of Chicago and Vicinity, which Association is also joined as a defendant because it refused to join the action as a plaintiff. Also joined as a defendant is Jerome D. Kennedy, the President of Local 74, who is sued individually and on behalf of all the members of his Union.

Motion to Dismiss or for Summary Judgment

The defendants Kennedy and Local 74 have made a detailed motion to dismiss each of the three counts of the complaint and have filed voluminous briefs in support thereof. Their motion attacks the jurisdiction of the Court over the subject matter and the sufficiency of the com *239 plaint to state a cause of action in each of the three counts.

Although it will unduly extend this opinion, I can see no other way to dispose of the motion than to examine each defect the defendants allege in the complaint and to comment briefly upon it.

Count I:

Gilmour alleges that on May 1, 1960, the Employing Association entered into a written contract with Local 74 which was to remain in effect until May 31, 1963, but which could be reopened on the issue of wages only after June 1, 1961, on 60 days’ notice. On May 1, 1960, Gilmour was not a member of the Association, but on that date he entered into a written agreement with Local 74, which was identical to the one which the Association executed on behalf of its members with Local 74. Gilmour’s individual agreement was to remain in effect until November 30, 1960. On August 18,1960, Gilmour became a member of the Association, and Gilmour alleges that by so becoming a member, he adopted and ratified all the acts of its bargaining representative in executing the earlier collective bargaining agreement. However, plaintiff’s individual agreement was extended to run until May 31, 1961. On June 1, 1961, the plaintiff alleges both the individual and the Employing Association agreement with Local 74 were in effect because of Section 8(d) (1) and (3) of the National Labor Relations Act (N.L.R.A.) (29 U.S.C. § 158(d) (1) & (3)). Since Local 74 failed to give the requisite 60 days’ notice of termination prior to the expiration date of the contract, the individual contract continued to be in effect notwithstanding its termination date of May 31, 1961.

Under either agreement, both of which the plaintiff alleges were to remain in effect through May 31,1963, it was the duty of Local 74 not to engage in a strike or boycott during the period of the agreement without first submitting any disputed question to arbitration in the manner provided for in the agreement. Notwithstanding this agreement to submit disputes to arbitration, plaintiff alleges that Local 74 has engaged in a strike against Gilmour, has directed its members not to perform services for Gilmour, has directed its members to report to the Union the locations at which Gilmour has contracted to perform any work, and has coerced its members to follow its instructions by threats of fines for any member who disregarded the orders of Local 74; it has also refused to issue “work permits” to any of its members who were employed by Gilmour. While allowing its members to finish work which was begun by Gilmour prior to May 31, 1961, Local 74 has ordered its members to engage in “slow-down activities” on these jobs, and has otherwise breached one or both of the two collective bargaining agreements alleged to be in effect through May 31, 1963.

Plaintiff alleges that because of the general practice among substantially all of the general contractors in the Chicago area to employ only subcontractors who employ members of A.F.L.-C.I.O. Unions, unless defendant is restrained from continuing its breach of the two collective bargaining agreements, plaintiff will continue to suffer irreparable injury to his business.

In addition to seeking injunctive relief, plaintiff seeks damages in the amount of $500,000.00.

To begin with, Section 301 of the N.L.R.A. (29 U.S.C. § 185) provides:

“Suits for violation of contracts between an employer and a labor organization representing employees in an industry affecting commerce as defined in this chapter, or between any such labor organizations, may be brought in any district court of the United States having jurisdiction of the parties, without respect to the amount in controversy or without regard to the citizenship of the parties.”

Firstly, Section 301 does not allow suits against individual union members or officers, even though it does allow individual union members or officers to bring suits for breach of contract against *240 their employer. This does not seem to be equal treatment, but nevertheless, it is the law.

In Smith v. Evening News Association, 371 U.S. 195, 83 S.Ct. 267, 9 L.Ed.2d 246 (1962), a suit by several individual members against an employer under Section 301 for breach of contract was allowed. However, in Atkinson v. Sinclair Refining Co., 370 U.S. 238, 82 S.Ct.

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223 F. Supp. 236, 7 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 420, 54 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2457, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7189, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gilmour-v-wood-wire-metal-lathers-international-union-local-no-74-ilnd-1963.